Chocolate Sundae Cake

Chocolate Sundae Cake originally posted in 2009 and updated with fresh photos in 2019. If you enjoy Southern Plate, please help support the site by telling your friends!

In the south, our menu selection changes entirely with the season, and each new season is something to be excited about. Right now, we’re all celebrating sunshine and heat, gardens and the outdoors. When the temperature reaches as high as it does here, that means cold food is a welcome delight. That is where Chocolate Sundae Cake comes in!

This cake is definitely celebration worthy on all counts. The appearance makes you think of red balloons and barbecues but beyond that, the ease of it is stunning. I dreamed this up a years ago when I had company coming and wanted an impressive dessert with ingredients I had on hand. I was hoping they’d like it and the speed with which it disappeared confirmed that they did. Just to be sure though, I made another one. POOF! And another…POOF!

Alright, now I’m ready to bring it to you – with a POOF! Guarantee.

One of my reader’s asked me on facebook if I had any suggestions for dishes to bring to family reunions and this one is going to go to the top of my list! The complete list of my personal favorite Southern Plate family reunion dishes is coming tomorrow so stay tuned!

I LOVE family reunions but it looks like we’re done with them for the time being in my family. Folks scatter to the wind and family expand, people get older and in a bad way, leaving just a few of us stragglers with the enthusiasm to herd the crowd back to the farm one bright sunny day. We still gather at my mother’s house a few times a year though and while this is just my siblings and their families it’s still a big enough gathering to count as a reunion to the younger generation.

They won’t remember Papa Reed giving us rides on the tractor as he let kids take turns getting to sit over the wheel. They won’t remember fifty people piling up on the flatbed trailer for a ride to the creek where we’d try to find the biggest rock to make the biggest splash. And they won’t ever sit in the front yard of the farm and listen to people playing banjos and fiddles on the porch.

They won’t ever have the memories in my head or the experiences I gathered as a little girl. But they’ll have new ones. Not the same, but just as precious to them. And of course, they’ll remember the food. Maybe this chocolate sundae cake will be one of those special memories, too. Scroll down to the bottom of this post for a list of my favorite things to bring to family get togethers.

You’ll need: Chocolate Cake mix (regular, dark, devil’s food, etc) and whatever the package calls for to make that, a large container of whipped topping, a bottle of chocolate syrup, and some cherries (I prefer with stems) along with chopped nuts for the topping.

Of course I’m using the cheap stuff!

~smiles her perky housewife of the 1950’s era smile and looks into the camera with pride~

“Nothing but the cheapest for me and my family!” Hey, ain’t no shame in saving money. In fact, there is a lot of wisdom there!

Prepare your cake according to package directions in a 9×13 inch pan.

As soon as you take it out of the oven, poke holes all in the top with a fork.

Until it looks like it has been attacked by a mob of angry chickens.
(This story is from 2009) This is one of our precious “golden forks”. I say they are precious because my children treat them like they are crown jewels. I was in Old Time Pottery a few weeks ago with both kids, perusing the kitchenware, when we came upon a bin of these forks. They were only fifty cents each and both kids had spotted them from a distance. They stood over them, oohing and ahhing as if they had discovered Captain Blackbeard’s treasure! So I picked up one for each kid and started to put them in the buggy.

Oh no!! They wanted to carry them, apparently not trusting their precious fifty cents forks to be out of their sight.

While standing there, I somehow got into a conversation with a very nice lady about recipes and she and I ended up talking for about ten minutes or so (I often get into conversations about food with strangers so this shouldn’t seem odd in the least). My kids were talking quietly among themselves (WOW) and I was grateful for their great behavior while Mama chatted.
When we got to the front of the store, however, I realized that the whole time, my kids (mostly Katy) had been going through that bin getting out more gold forks! We now have ten golden forks and whenever company comes over to eat Katy says “OOH! WAIT!! I’ll go get you a GOLDEN fork!!!”

Now take that bottle of chocolate syrup and pour it over the cake.

Yes, the entire bottle. Saturate that cake. It will soak into the holes and warm cake and…oh my if your mouth isn’t watering now I don’t know what it takes to do it for ya!

Let your cake cool completely and place in the fridge to get it chilled.

Sometimes I speed things up a bit by placing my hot cake in the freezer but lets keep that between us, alrighty?

Once your cake is cold, spread the entire container of whipped topping over it.

This cake sounds so good.
I wanted to read the story about the golden fork, so went to the main website and clicked search for GOLDEN FORK, and it went right back here! Tried several times! Can you post it again, or a link, or something?

Hey! thank you so much, Jenny! I had removed the story when I updated this post but after reading your comment I went back and put the story back in 🙂 It’s in the blog post now, scroll to the part where you poke holes in the cake. I appreciate your comment!

Hey! I mean the kind that you put in milk to stir it up and make it turn chocolate. Its a bit runnier than the chocolate sauce you get here to go on ice cream BUT a lot of people put chocolate syrup on ice cream too!

I’m just trying to cover my bases in case it’s called something different where you are!
Do y’all have Hershey’s syrup?
Thats what I used, the chocolate milk syrup…but I bought the cheap generic version of course!

Hi Su. Where in the world do you live, that Hersheys hasn’t arrived on store shelves? Hope that was a joke. Look near the ice cream section in your store — where they sell the fixings for ice cream dishes (caramel, fudge sauce, waffle cones, etc.) Hershey’s bottle looks just like Christy’s picture. This might even be good with a caramel soak, now that I think about it. 😉

As far as I know we definitely don’t have Hersheys in Australia, and I don’t believe this has changed anytime recently. I’m not a big fan of Hersheys but some of my friends are (both here where I live and in other states) and even they talk about wanting to buy Hersheys. I’ve never seen it sold here which is why I usually will buy it when I’m in the states to give to people. We don’t have a lot of the brands pr products that you have over there.

That looks wonderful! It reminds me a little bit of the ice cream cake you make with ice cream sandwiches. You just layer them in the pan with chocolate sauce and whipped cream and cherries. Yum! I like this version for when I don’t want to run out and buy ice cream sandwiches, or for when there’s danger of the cake melting either en route or at the event. Thanks!

That looks delicious! I think I’ll make it for the 4th of July to take to the in-laws. My nieces and nephews love anything with Cool Whip and maraschino cherries. In fact, they’ll put those in a bowl and eat them straight!

Funny story about the gold forks! It must make Katy feel like a princess!

If you’ve never tried it, substitute the cake part with ice cream sandwiches. Only don’t poke holes in the ice cream sandwiches, just drizzle the chocolate sauce over the sandwiches and the whipped topping.

Thank you very much, Christy. I appreciate you taking the time out of your already swamped schedule to compile the list. You and Ricky and the kids are more than welcome to come to my granddaddy’s side of the family reunion. It’s in August and as soon as I find out when all the details like time have been figured out I’ll send you a message. Y’all would fit right in with our crazy bunch.

I had been looking for quite some time for a true home made peanut butter cake. I went to an open house yesterday and lo and behold my favorite cake in the whole world was there. My sister sent her recipe to me and I would love to share it with the world. Her version is not quite as sweet as some I’ve tasted but it is truly to die for. For all that are interested, here it is:

FROSTING 1/3 C. MILK, 1 STICK OLEO, 2/3 C. PEANUT BUTTER. BRING TO A BOIL AND ADD 1 BOX OF POWDER SUGAR, MIX AND FROST CAKE AFTER IT HAS COOLED. I DON’T THINK THIS IS QUITE AS SWEET AS THE ONE AT THE OPEN HOUSE. I ALSO MAKE SOUR MILK WITH VINEGAR, AS I DON’T BUY BUTTERMILK. HOPE IT TURNS OUT FOR YOU, I HAVE MADE IT A COUPLE OF TIMES WITH THIS RECIPE. TTYL CINDY

What size pan and I also don’t understand the temp difference and yet the baking time is listed as twenty minutes for both the higher and lower temp. I wan tto try this as I love peanut butter but need the clarification. Thanks.

Another one hit outta tha park my Sistah! My next door neighbor did some repairs on my truck. I bought the parts and he didn’t charge me a cent for labor. He saved me a good $1000.00 dollars and I’m not kidding. I am so thankful for neighbors like him. I pray he doesn’t move until I’m dead.

Now I gotta figure out if I’m gonna make him a Butterfinger Cake or this one. He’s a chocoholic so either would be good.

I have made a recipe similar to this except I use Caramel topping (save enough for drizzle on top) and place chopped pecans over the top. It is also delicious! I made it for Christmas gathering last year and the family went crazy over it!

Hey christy I tried the cheesy hash brown casserole ithb was awesome!! I never could make biscuits they would turn out hard as a rock but bi did your recipe they turned out perfect!my husband and kids wants them all the time now!! Thanks so much!!I love to cook and you make it easier!! Thanks again!!

Well sounds like you have another winner here. What about after the cake is cooled you make a layer of chocolate pudding. Let that cool and then top it with the nuts and cherries. If your going to be a chocoholic, you might as well go all the way.
Just a thought. LOL
And what a co incidence, I had order some new flatware, and they arrive today. Of course they are not golden ones, but they are pretty too.
Don’t you just love the way kids can come out with the sweetest things.

I actually made this cake tonight as a “good luck” cake to have after dinner while watching LSU beat Texas in the College World Series. My husband loved it (though I have to say the game results made him even happier than the cake . . . LOL). I used sugar-free chocolate syrup and light Cool Whip, and it was divine 🙂 Very, very yummy!